There are many reasons to love avocados. For one thing, they are downright delicious. Especially when used to make guacamole. Except for salsa, few foods are better paired with corn chips. Avocados are also known for their health benefits. They’re referred to as a “superfood” for a reason. That’s because they chocked full of vitamins, contain more potassium than bananas, and are full of good fatty acids. Now the bad news: They are also starting to become a luxury item. Nationwide, avocado prices are at an all-time high. If you’re keeping score, wholesale avocado prices have increased 75% since July alone. Pretty soon you might have to choose between your beloved avocado toast and paying your rent. (Unless you take advantage of the deals Amazon + Wholefoods is tossing around).
If you’re looking for a scapegoat, you can blame smaller than usual harvests for the increase. With anything, it’s all about supply and demand. The public really wants to add avocados to their burritos, tacos, toast, and sushi. But, droughts in California, paired with farmers strikes in Mexico have made for a perfect storm of demand and lack of supply.
“There’s just not enough supply out there,” David Maloni, president of the American Restaurant Association told the Wall Street Journal.
This is might seem like an emergency to you, but this is nothing new to avocado farmers. Depending on the year, the harvests can vary greatly. When farmers in California have an off year, they get avocados from Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. The problem is, this year there just aren’t enough avocados to go around. Everyone is having smaller than usual yields all at once. Because of this, many people are going to have to settle for plain, old toast with butter or jam or pay as much as $3 per avocado. That’s a pretty steep price to pay.
Don’t think that stocking up on avocados will help you either. A case of 48 Hass avocados is currently going for more than $80. That’s even more than the all-time high of $76 last summer (more than triple the price of a case in 2015). But, don’t worry. You can always just turn to another “superfood” while you wait for prices to go down. How about pumpkins? Just in time for fall, pumpkins are full of fiber and are known for be heart healthy. They just might not work as well on toast.
